SPACEWARN Bulletin 587
All information in this publication was received between
1 September 2002 and 30 September 2002.
A. List of New International Designations and Launch Dates (UTC).
USSPACECOM Catalog numbers are in parentheses.
COSPAR/WWAS USSPACECOM SPACECRAFT LAUNCH
INT.ID CAT. # NAME DATE (UT)
---------------------------------------------------------
2002-046A (27534) Nadezhda 7 26 September 2002
2002-045A (27531) Progress M1-9 25 September 2002
2002-044A (27528) Hispasat 1D 18 September 2002
2002-043A (27525) Metsat 1 12 September 2002
2002-042B (27516) DRTS 10 September 2002
2002-042A (27515) USERS 10 September 2002
2002-041A (27513) Intelsat 906 06 September 2002
B. Text of Launch Announcements.
| 2002-046A | Nadezhda 7, also called Nadezhda-M, is a Russian navigational satellite that was launched by a Cosmos-3M rocket from Plesetsk at 15:30 UT on 26 September 2002. It will participate in the international search-and-rescue network known as COSPAS-SARSAT, for ships at sea. Initial orbital parameters were period 102 min, apogee 1,022 km, perigee 987 km, and inclination 83°. |
|---|---|
| 2002-045A | Progress M1-9, also known as Progress 9P, is a Russian automatic cargo transportation craft that was launched by a Soyuz-U rocket from Baikonur at 16:58 UT on 25 September 2002, to deliver food, fuel, and supplies to the International Space Station, ISS. It docked with the Zvezda module of the ISS on 29 September and delivered the material. Prior to the docking, the port was vacated by the earlier Progress-M46, carrying with it trash from the ISS, to deorbit and burn away during re-entry. Initial orbital parameters of Progress M1-9 were period 90.6 min, apogee 323.5 km, perigee 281.5 km, and inclination 51.64°. |
| 2002-044A | Hispasat 1D is a Spanish geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by an Atlas 2AS/Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral at 22:04 UT on 18 September 2002. The 3.3 tonne, 7.0 kW satellite carries three antennas looking in different directions to provide video, data and internet services to Europe, North America, and North Africa through its 28 Ku-band transponders after parking over 30°W longitude alongside of Hispasats 1A, 1B, and 1C. |
| 2002-043A | Metsat 1 is an Indian (ISRO) meteorological, geostationary satellite that was launched by an upgraded, four-stage PSLV-C4 rocket from Sriharikota in the southeast coast of India at 10:24 UT on 12 September 2002. The triaxially-stabilized, 1,050 kg (including 560 kg of propellant), 550 W satellite carries a VHRR (Very High Resolution Radiometer) scanning radiometer for three-band images: one in the visible, the second in the thermal infrared and the third in the water vapor infrared bands, each at a spatial resolution of 2-km x 2-km resolution, to obtain atmospheric cloud cover, water vapor and temperature. It carries also a Data Relay Transponder (DRT) to provide data from fixed/mobile ground level weather platforms. It was maneuvered from the transfer orbit to a geostationary at 37°E longitude on 16 September, and then to the final parking at 74°E longitude on 24 September. More details may be seen in http://www.isro.org/. |
| 2002-042B | DRTS is Japanese (Data Relay Transponder Satellite) geostationary communications spacecraft that was launched by an H 2A rocket from Tanegashima Island in Japan at 08:20 UT on 10 September 2002. The nearly cubical (2.2 m x 2.4 m x 2.2 m) 2.8 tonne (with fuel), 2.1 kW (from a 17 square-meter array) spacecraft will relay images and data procured by the to-be-launched ADEOS 2 and ALOS satellites, and the KIBO module on ISS, through its S- and Ka-band transponders, after parking over 90°E. |
| 2002-042A | USERS (Unmanned Space Experiment Recovery System) is a Japanese microgravity experimental satellite that was launched by an H 2A rocket from Tanegashima Island in Japan at 08:20 UT on 10 September 2002. The 1.7 tonne (with fuel), 700 W satellite consists of a Re-Entry Module (REM) and a Service Module (SEM) that will provide power and a communications link to the REM. In turn, REM consists of a Re-Entry Vehicle (REV) and a Propulsion Module (PM). After 8.5 months in orbit, REM will be separated to deorbit and the REV will soft-land with its contents. The SEM will be elevated to a higher orbit. Initial orbital parameters of the USERS were period 94.9 min, apogee 519 km, perigee 504 km, and inclination 30.9°. |
| 2002-041A | Intelsat 906 is a geostationary communications spacecraft of the international Intelsat consortium (recently privatized as Intelsat Ltd.) that was launched by an Ariane 44L rocket from Kourou at 06:44 UT on 6 September 2002. It will provide internet, telephony and television broadcasts to Europe, Asia, and Australia through its 72 C- and 22 Ku-band transponders after parking over 64 deg-E longitude. It displaces Intelsat 804 which will then be moved to 176°E to handle the increased cross-Atlantic demand. |
C. Spacecraft Particularly Suited for International Participation
- Spacecraft with essentially continuous radio beacons on frequencies
less than 150 MHz, or higher frequencies if especially suited for ionospheric
or geodetic studies. (NNSS denotes U.S. Navy Navigational
Satellite System. Updates or corrections to the list are possible only with
information from the user community.)Note:
The full list appeared in SPX 545.
The list will not be repeated in future issues until significantly revised again. - Global Positioning System satellites useful for navigational
purposes and geodetic studies.High precision (<20 cm) GPS constellation tracking data obtained from
the network of about 80 dedicated global stations that are of interest to
geodetic study may be obtained through the following services provided
by the International Association of Geodesy (IGS)FTP: igscb.jpl.nasa.gov [directory /igscb] WWW: http://igscb.jpl.nasa.gov/ E-mail: igscb@cobra.jpl.nasa.govThe standard format of the GPS situation appeared in SPX-518. It will not
be repeated since an excellent source of trajectory- and science-related GPS information is at:http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gps_f.html
It provides many links to GPS related databases.
- Russian Global Navigational (Positioning) Spacecraft, GLONASS
constellation. (SPACEWARN requests updates/additions from readers to this list.)All GLONASS spacecraft are in the general COSMOS series. The COSMOS numbers
(nnnn) invoked by USSPACECOM have often differed from the numbers (NNNN)
associated in Russia; when different, the USSPACECOM COSMOS numbers are shown
in parentheses. The corresponding GLONASS numbers are Russian numbers, followed
by the numbers in parentheses that are sometimes attributed to them outside
Russia.The operating frequencies in MHz are computed from the channel number K.
Frequencies (MHz) = 1602.0 + 0.5625K and L2 = 1246.0 + 0.4375K.The standard format of the GLONASS situation appeared in SPX-545. It
will not be repeated in view of the excellent updated source at:
http://www.rssi.ru/SFCSIC/english.html
maintained by the Coordinational
Scientific Information Center (CSIC),Russian Space Forces.The latest addition to the GLONASS fleet are Cosmos 2380, Cosmos 2381, and
Cosmos 2382. - Visually bright objects.
A comprehensive list of visually bright objects with their two-line
orbital elements is available from USSPACECOM, via a NASA site:
http://oig1.gsfc.nasa.gov/files/visible.tle.
The list, however, does not include visual magnitudes, but are expected
to be brighter than magnitude 5. - Actual decays/landings of payload spacecraft and rocket bodies (R/B)
only. No further information is available.Designations Common Name Decay Date (2002) 2002-045B (27532) R/B Soyuz-U 27 September 2002-006B (27379) R/B Atlas 3B/Centaur 24 September 1979-020A (11285) INTERCOSMOS 19 23 September 1999-043E (25887) R/B(1) Delta 2 21 September 1985-061A (15909) MOLNIYA 3-25 21 September 1987-048D (18086) R/B(2) that launched COSMOS 1849 19 September 2002-005F (27377) R/B Delta 2 16 September 1993-007C (22448) R/B NAVSTAR 30 (PAM-D) 11 September
- 60-day Decay Predictions.
The USSPACECOM forecasts and maintains a
list of decays of orbiting objects expected in the next 60 days , with fair
accuracy. The list may be accessed through a NASA site as follows:- Go to http://oig1.gsfc.nasa.gov/scripts/foxweb.exe/app01?
- Select “OIG Main Page”.
- Select “Send Message to System administrator”, who will provide a login account.
- After getting an ID and a Password, click on “Registered User Login”.
(Step (2) is not needed after obtaining an account.) - Select “Continue”.
- Select “General information”.
- Select “Reports”.
- Select “Sixty Day Decay…”.
Note: The login requirement is enforced due to the events on 11 September 2001.
- Miscellaneous Items. (This section contains information/data that
are entered on occasion and may not be repeated in each issue of the
SPACEWARN Bulletin.) - Related NSSDC resources.
NSSDC/WDC for Satellite Information is an archival center for science
data from many spacecraft. Many space physics datasets are on-line for
electronic access through:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/For off-line data, please contact the Request Office, NSSDC, Code 633,
NASA GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771, U.S.A., for specific information
(request@nssdca.gsfc.nasa.gov).
Information on the current status of the instruments on board from the
investigators will be most welcomed. Precomputed trajectory files
and orbital parameters of many magnetospheric and heliospheric science-payload
spacecraft may be obtained from:
ftp://nssdcftp.gsfc.nasa.gov/miscellaneous/orbits/Other files interest for Earth-centered spacecraft can be generated through the URL,
http://sscweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/Programs related to the heliospheric spacecraft trajectories can be executed
through the URL,
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/space/helios/heli.htmlMagnetospheric, Planetary, and Astronomical science data from many spacecraft
may be accessed through links from the URL:
http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/sc-query.html
